Job Discussion Forums

[Nagoyaguy]

I am tired of working for "the man" and want to do my own thing in the future. I have a visa, etc already, but want to know how to open my own business.

I dont want to run an eikaiwa per se- just looking for a way to register a business name so that when I bill students for lessons, it says something like "Big Bad English Service" instead of "Nagoyaguy". I plan to work from home as a teacher slash translator slash interpreter, so there is no office or staff to worry about.

The reason is that many organizations in Japan are reluctant to do business with an individual, but are willing to do business with a company. Doesnt matter that the company IS an individual masquerading under a different name. I guess showing a company name in the accounting books looks better than a personal name.

Anyone done this? How should I begin?

Thanks in advance.

[Nismo]

I haven't done any research on this at all, but I am going to go out on a limb and guess that you would have to officially register your business with the government. Remember, as a foreigner you will never be able to own land. The only way to ever own land in Japan is through a Japanese spouse. You might see an increase in tax rate because you are a business owner. Owning a business isn't something you should take lightly, so I suggest you really research it.

[Mike L.]

JETRO has a lot of information!

They have an English / Japanese guide to "Establishing Enterprises in Japan" or soemthing.

Had an appointment with one of their very friendly and helpful employees once about establishing a business.

If your near Tokyo the office is, I think, still in Toranomon.

As the website I'm sure you can find it!

Good luck!!!

[Glenski]

Go to www.gaijinpot.com and ask the same question and hope that a woman known as Trip Hop answers. VERY knowledgeable.

Or go to http://mcentyre.com/forum/index.php (JAPANic web site) and see if you can get in on the private message group with other business (eikaiwa) owners to see if they have advice.

If you want to be treated like a professional, you will have to BE one, and that WILL likely mean registering your company and dealing with taxes and subordinates, not just slapping a fancy company name and logo on a computer-generated business card.

[Nagoyaguy]

Thanks all for the advice.

I am not planning to own property or have subordinates. Basically, the reason is to get around the phobia that many organizations in Japan have of hiring individuals. Many prefer to hire quote unquote companies, even though they know that the company consists of one or two people working out of their tatami room. Must be an accounting rule or something.

How about people who work freelance- translators, interpreters, and the like? I know there is a registration process at the tax office, but dont know if you can register under any but your real name.

[saloc]

If you don't plan on hiring any staff and are going to work from home, then there really is no need to register as a company. If you have a business name, create all your promotional material in the name of a business, and act professionally there is no reason why you won't be treated as a professional. I think you need to pay 3 million yen to officially register as a business (although I could be wrong on that) and there seems little point in doing that if you are, in reality, just working for yourself. Your clients will not know if you are registered or not anyway.There are lots of one-man-show eikaiwa schools which have a school name under which they operate, but are not registered as businesses and are in fact just run by one person who does all the teaching. As long as you pay your income tax there shouldn't be any problem with this. If you do start hiring staff etc then you may need to register.